Trinidad High students win gold for housing advocacy project
Serenity Samora and Brianna Sandoval brought home FCCLA gold in Washington after pitching a Trinidad housing advocacy project that first won Colorado.
Trinidad High School students Serenity Samora and Brianna Sandoval earned gold at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., after presenting a project centered on available and affordable housing in Trinidad. The pair scored at least 90 out of 100 points, enough for a gold medal, and had already qualified for the national stage by placing first in Colorado in April in the Public Policy Advocate category.
Samora and Sandoval built their FCCLA project around housing affordability in Trinidad by using radio appearances, stickers, mic talks and volunteer work at the warming center to raise awareness before they traveled east for nationals.
FCCLA held its 2026 National Leadership Conference July 6-10 in Washington, where members competed in STAR Events, took part in leadership programming and met students and advisers from across the country. While in the capital, Samora and Sandoval also attended leadership workshops and listened to red talks, then used their free time to visit the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Mall.
Their work lands in a community where housing has stayed at the center of public policy. The City of Trinidad has contracted Root Policy Research for a housing needs assessment and strategy, and city planning materials identify code issues such as accessory dwelling units, density, setbacks, height limits and affordability bonuses as factors in how much housing gets built and how much it costs. Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs also backs affordable housing and homelessness-prevention projects statewide through its Division of Housing, while the state’s Proposition 123 framework is aimed at helping Coloradans live where they work without spending more than 30% of income on housing.
Trinidad has seen progress and strain at the same time. A March 2024 report found $2 million in Housing Now funds helped create 182 workforce housing units, including 90 new units and 92 revitalized units from downtown buildings. The Trinidad Housing Authority operates 279 public-housing units, but has faced vacancy-related revenue losses and a growing waitlist.
A coalition in Las Animas County says Trinidad does not have a homeless shelter and that the nearest shelter is 85 miles away, making the volunteer-run, donation-funded warming center a critical stop during cold weather.
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